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With Elon Musk preparing a program update in ~2 weeks, StarHopper flight tests ramping up, and Starships Mk-1 and Mk-2 being built in Boca Chica Texas and Cocoa Florida, it's time for a new updates thread.

The two Starship build teams are competing, sharing their innovations to "improve the breed."

Boca Chica TX test flight facility

This is about 4 months old, before drone flights were banned because one idiot was buzzing SpaceX staff. Since then, the pad closest to the drone at the beginning has been poured & has its swoosh-X livery.

Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 29th July 2019 at 14:46.

Dr. Mordrid----------------------------An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

StarHopper is a 9 meter wide & shortened boilerplate version of the Starship propulsion module.

If it looks like a water tower tank that's because it was built by Caldwell Tanks, who builds elevated and ground level storage tanks; water, natural gas, etc. Who else to build a huge, super strong, stainless steel tank?

As NASA prepares to land humans on the Moon by 2024 with the Artemis program, commercial companies are developing new technologies, working toward space ventures of their own, and looking to NASA for assistance. NASA has selected 10 U.S. companies for 19 partnerships to mature industry-developed space technologies and help maintain American leadership in space.
>Entry, Decent and Landing
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* SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, will work with NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida to advance their technology to vertically land large rockets on the Moon. This includes advancing models to assess engine plume interaction with lunar regolith.
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>Propulsion
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* SpaceX will work with Glenn and Marshall to advance technology needed to transfer propellant in orbit, an important step in the development of the companys Starship space vehicle.
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Dr. Mordrid----------------------------An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

A fully reusable rocket system consisting of two parts, Starship and Super Heavy booster, is being developed by SpaceX for crewed and uncrewed missions to take humans and cargo to Earth orbit and beyond, including to the Moon and Mars. SpaceX plans to launch thevStarship/Super Heavy up to 24 times per year from LC-39A. A static fire test would be conducted on each stage prior to each launch. The launch vehicle is comprised of two stages: Super Heavy and Starship. Super Heavy is the first stage (booster), and Starship (ship) is the second stage. The integrated vehicle would be 118 m in height with the ship being 55 m in length and 9 m in diameter. The top of the fully integrated rocket once installed on the launch mount would stand approximately 150 m above ground level (Figure 2-1). As mentioned, both stages would be reusable with any potential processing actions taking place at SpaceX facilities. The booster is expected to have minimal post flight refurbishment requirements; however, it may require periodic maintenance and upgrades. Unlike Falcon, there would be no separable fairings or parachutes in this reusable system. The booster would be powered by 31 Raptor engines and Starship would be powered by seven Raptor engines. The Raptor engine was recently developed and is currently in Texas undergoing tests.

Starship/Super Heavy maximum lift-off mass is approximately 5,000 metric tons (MT), with a lift-off thrust of up to 62 meganewtons (MN) (13.9 million lbs). The booster would hold up to 3,500 MT of propellant and Starship would hold up to 1,500 MT of propellant. The propellant is composed of liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid methane in a 3.6:1 mass ratio. Each Raptor engine would produce 1.7 to 2.0 MN (0.3 to 0.4 million lbs) of thrust. The 31 booster engines would cut off at an altitude of approximately 70 km and the two stages would separate. Shortly thereafter, at an altitude of approximately 80 km, the Starship engines would start up and burn to the desired orbit location. Additional operational details are provided below. All vehicle specifications, propellant, and mission data would be provided to NASA to ensure the Proposed Action meets NASA safety requirements.
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Dr. Mordrid----------------------------An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve
Will it be tomorrow Aug 9 or Aug 19 the dates of road closures on the website are so far apart. Please let us know!
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Elon Musk ✓ @elonmusk
Replying to
@JaneidyEve and @Teslarati
No sooner than a week. Working approvals with FAA.
9:05 PM · Aug 8, 2019

August 16, 1509-0100 Eastern. Alternate dates are the 17th & 18th, same times.

The previous ones had been recinded.

From the look of this crane, stacking the Starship Mk-1 propulsion and payload modules is soon.

Austin Barnard @austinbarnard45
#SpaceX crews hard at work today under the hot Texas sun, the team has been working tirelessly on the bottom section of #StarShip. As well as amassing a giant new crane, maybe to connect the two halves together or maybe something entirely different. The pace is really picking up!

The Cocoa build site already has at least 15 stainless steel ring segments in the staging area, and odds are only 2-3 are needed to finish off Starship Mk-2. The rest will likely be used to build the first Super Heavy booster.

And Starship Mk-2 will soon be moved to a site in KSC, then later to the 67 acre and under-construction SpaceX Operations Area south of the Vehicle Assembly Building.

How SpaceX plans to move Starship from Cocoa site to Kennedy Space Center

Starship prototype to be moved to Kennedy Space Center in September

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - Long before SpaceX can fly Starship to the moon or Mars, a prototype of the spacecraft must be moved from its construction site in Cocoa to the Kennedy Space Center for testing.
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Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve
Replying to @elonmusk
Elon
will the SpaceX presentation at Boca Chica take place on August 24 this week?

or will it be delayed if StarHopper doesn't recieve FAA approval this week to launch?
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Elon Musk ✔ @elonmusk
Will probably make sense to do this when Starship Mk 1 has 3 Raptors, moving body fins & landing gear installed, which is hopefully mid September
3:03 PM - Aug 20, 2019